Jason Priestley has daddy issues on Raising Expectations

Former Beverly Hills 90210 star headlines Raising Expectations

The young actors on Jason Priestley’s new TV show Raising Expectations have no idea who he is.

Well, sure, they know him in the way you’d know your dentist — he’s a guy who gets the job done yet probably hasn’t seen Kylie Jenner’s latest Instagram post that, OMG you guys, is like totes adorbs.

But if you mention the fact that the 46-year-old actor was once Teen Beat cover bait for his role on Beverly Hills, 90210? Someone emulated in hair, clothing and eyebrow lift? Crickets.

“I think that most of the kids on the show were mostly born in this century, and they have no idea,” the Vancouver native says, laughing. “I think they mostly know me as Richard Fitzpatrick. They have no idea of who Brandon Walsh even was.”

Richard Fitzpatrick, for those not schooled in Priestley Studies 101, is the morally mutable used-car salesman in Call Me Fitz, a raunchy homegrown series that won two Canadian Screen Awards and aired for four seasons before wrapping up in 2013.

In Raising Expectations, by contrast, Priestley plays squeaky-clean dad Wayne Wayney opposite ‘80s screen queen Molly Ringwald. She’s Paige Wayney, a seemingly perfect mom to five children, four of whom are overachievers. The other one? Not so much.

“After my kids being fascinated with Call Me Fitz and obviously not being able to watch Call Me Fitz for myriad reasons, I was looking for something that I could actually enjoy with them,” Priestley says, acknowledging the poignancy of a former teen star now playing a parent.

Raising Expectations [Family/DHX Media]

The fact that Ringwald was involved with Raising Expectations was also a draw. The two had worked together on the angst-ridden television series The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

“That was six years ago, right after my son was born, and I was looking forward to working with Molly again,” says Priestley. “I always try to work with people that I know and admire and respect their work, and Molly is one of those people.”

Apparently not satisfied to star in just one show at a time, Priestley is raising some expectations of his own.

The former Haven star also executive-produces and headlines in the homegrown TV drama Private Eyes, now airing on Global. As the stylishly named Matt Shade, he’s a former hockey player turned private investigator.

What’s more, Priestley is directing episodes of the supernatural drama Van Helsing, which is filmed in Vancouver and airs on U.S. network Syfy this fall. He’s previously directed episodes of Saving Hope, Rookie Blue and Call Me Fitz, as well as the 2013 film Cas & Dylan, starring Richard Dreyfuss and Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany.

“You know, I think I’m equally comfortable in front of and behind the camera these days. I seem to split my time pretty equally,” he says. With Raising Expectations, “it was actually kind of nice to be back in front of the camera. I think I’m just reaching that age where I’m comfortable in my skin no matter where I am.”